A Reggie Roadtrip: Atlanta, Part I

It's been some time, Dear Reader, since I've done a "Reggie Roadtrip" post, and—as a number of you have noted recently—it has been some time since I've posted anything.  Today's essay (the first of a two part series) remedies that deficiency with my reportage on a whirlwind trip that Boy and I took several weekends ago to Atlanta, a city that I hadn't visited in more than twenty years.  Our agenda there included meeting a number of the area's noteworthy bloggers, reconnecting with old friends, shopping, eating out, and visiting a smattering of sights in what is indisputably the South's biggest, boomingest city.

We began our journey in the Delta Sky Lounge at LaGuardia Airport where we fortified ourselves with several rounds of pre-flight cocktails and handfulls of Chex Mix.  Reggie is fortunate to have access to most of the airlines' members lounges when he travels.  It is one of the few remaining perquisites of being an Investment Banker, and a soothing antidote to the horrors of airport security lines—even for those of us with priority privileges.

"On second thought, Miss, please make that a double!"

Upon our arrival at Atlanta's mindboggle-ingly enormous Jackson-Hartsfield Airport I upgraded our rental car to a new Cadillac ATS, the brand's recent entry into the sporty, entry-level luxury car market dominated by Audi, Mercedes Benz, and BMW.  It had been some time since I'd driven a Cadillac, and I was curious to check it out.  Our ATS drove like a dream and had a lot of pep to it, but it was a bit cramped for those of us—such as Reggie—who stand at over six feet tall and carry a BMI that could use (ahem) some improvement.  Such minor complaint notwithstanding, I enjoyed test-driving the Cadillac ATS during our visit to Atlanta.

There's really nothing quite like a Cadillac, is there?

Our first destination in Atlanta was the city's Four Seasons Hotel, where we checked in and had a quick bite before heading out to see what the town had to offer.  As I have written many times before here on this blog, Reggie is a big fan of the Four Seasons chain, and he usually stays in one of their hotels whenever he has the good fortune to find himself in a city that has one.  I was interested to check out the Four Seasons' Atlanta outpost, as I had never stayed in it before.

The Atlanta Four Seasons Hotel in all its magnificence

The Atlanta Four Seasons is a monumental limestone tower, and its lobby is exhilaratingly, uh, garish.

Trump Tower red marble for miles and a
Phantom of the Opera crystal chandelier!

Not that it bothered Reggie one bit, mind you.  Reggie enjoys a bit of questionable taste every now and then.  The Atlanta Four Seasons' grand staircase reminded him of the one in Rhett and Scarlett's Atlanta mansion, the one that Rhett carries her up, kicking and screaming, and then ravishes her.

"This is one night you're not turning me out, Scarlett!"
Image courtesy of Selznick International Pictures/MGM

Just as Mrs. Butler apparently enjoyed herself that night, we had a lovely time at the Atlanta Four Seasons.  The service was superb, and the staff couldn't have been more accommodating, or nicer.

"I just love the beds at the Four Seasons.  They're so comfortable!"
Image courtesy of Selznick International Pictures/MGM

Our spacious and well-appointed room at the hotel was on a high floor, and had a terrific view out over Midtown Atlanta.

The view of Atlanta from our hotel room

Atlanta has come a long way since it was burned to the ground in 1864, Dear Reader, during what some in the South still refer to as the "War of Northern Aggression." Visiting Atlanta 150 years after the war's end it is (almost) unfathomable to me that our nation came to such blows then and that so many died for "the Cause."  It certainly seems very remote to this writer today.  But that was not the case as recently as my own parent's generation, many of whom knew people who remembered the Civil War, and some of whom experienced it first hand.  One of my mother MD's grandfathers, for instance, was a drummer boy in the Union Army.  I and my brother Frecky own swords that were carried by ancestors of ours who fought in the war, on both sides.

A view of downtown Atlanta in 1865, after Sherman had finished with it
Image courtesy of Cornell University Library

With but a few hours on our hands before our first commitment, Boy and I headed over to Sid Mashburn, an Atlanta-based men's clothing store that I first learned about from reading Maximinimus, one of my favorite blogs.  Dusty Grainger, who writes said blog, is a great appreciator of all things sartorial (among many other appealing attributes) and sang the praises of Sid Mashburn's emporium in one of his recent posts.  After reading Dusty's enthusiastic endorsement, I knew that Boy and I simply had to visit the store during our trip to Atlanta

The eponymously-named Sid Mashburn is, in this writer's humble opinion, worth a trip to Atlanta alone (and for you ladies, there's an equally-lovely store for the fairer sex right next door, named Ann Mashburn, after Sid's wife).

"Warning!  Danger Will Robinson!"
Image courtesy of Fox Television Studios

But be forewarned, Dear Reader!  Should you be so fortunate (or foolish) to darken (either) store's doors I assure you that you will be seduced by a powerful siren song, and will find yourself helplessly stumbling away with armloads of expensive, beautifully-made clothes and accessories and a decidedly emptier bank account.

At least that's what happened to Boy during our not-one-but-two visits to Sid Mashburn during our all-too-brief stay in Atlanta.  Reggie knew that we were in serious trouble when the very helpful and accommodating Brad, who assisted Boy during our visits at Sid Mashburn, greeted us with "What are you drinking?" and then obligingly (and repeatedly) supplied it to us to imbibe while we examined the store's delectable offerings.  As I watched Boy succumb to the heady charms of Sid Marshburn's inventory I couldn't help but recall the clothes shopping scene in one of my favorite movies, Sunset Boulevard:

"As long as the lady is paying for it, why not take the vicuna?"
Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures

But, unfortunately for dear Boy, I wasn't about to play the Norma Desmond character in Sunset Boulevard and pick up the tab for his shopping spree at Sid Mashburn—Boy was there on his own.

I must say, though, that our vist visits to Sid Mashburn were one of the highlights of our trip to Atlanta, and well-worth the financial damage done to Boy's bank account, as he came away with a splendid replenishment of his wardrobe.  There is a reason, Dear Reader, that the expressions "You only go around once" and "You must strike when the iron is hot" are clichés.  Because they are true!  Boy simply had to "bite the bullet" and "take the plunge" at Sid Mashburn—for when would we pass this way again?

On the other hand, I can just hear MD snorting if she were still alive and reading this, "Yes, and the same applies to 'A fool and his money,' too, young man!"  Ah, well . . .

Stuck in stalled traffic on Fourteenth Street

Realizing that we were in danger of running behind for our first commitment in Atlanta—a cocktail party that we were hosting at our hotel—we quickly wrapped up our visit at Sid Mashburn and jumped into the Cadillac ATS for (what we thought would be) a quick trip back to the Four Seasons.  But it didn't turn out that way, Dear Reader.  Traffic in Atlanta can be horrendous, particularly on the city's main thoroughfares.  What we assumed would be a five minute drive turned into a forty minute one, and we were late for our own party.  Fortunately everyone else was, too, given the congestion in the streets leading up to the hotel.

Reggie's Bloggers & Bankers Party, getting under way

So why did Reggie throw a party when he visited Atlanta, you might ask?  Because he could, that's why!  As I have explained elsewhere in this blog, Reggie is a party person, and he enjoys not only going to other people's parties, but throwing them, too.  As I was preparing for our trip to Atlanta, I realized that we knew enough people in the area that it would be fun to plan a party while we were there.  I invited a number of Atlanta's noteworthy lifestyle bloggers to it—some of whom I've met before and some of whom I hadn't—and also a handfull of my non-blogger friends.  Each were invited to bring "significant others" or a friend, and all-in we had around fifteen convivial souls assemble for the festivity.

Settling in for conversation, hooch, and tasty vittles

Because most of my non-blogging friends in Atlanta (coincidentally) work at Sun Trust (which is not all that surprising, since I got to know them when we overlapped at various financial firms in New York), I decided to call our cocktail party "Reggie's Bloggers & Bankers Party."  Needless to say, it was a super fun evening!  Liquor flowed, food was plentiful (and delicious), and talk (and laughter) was nonstop.

The Atlanta Four Seasons did a marvelous job at
making sure all of Reggie's guests were "well-served"
at his Bloggers & Bankers Party
Image courtesy of Super Stock

From the blogging world I was honored to have as my guests Jennifer Boles of The Peak of Chic, Julieta Cadenas of Lindaraxa, Barry Leach of The Blue Remembered Hills, and Terry Kearns of Architecture Tourist.  During the party I learned that Allin Tallmadge, the husband of a dear friend of mine from the banking world, has recently started a blog of his own focused on cheese (but I can't remember the name of it or I'd provide a link to it here).  Not surprisingly, Allin is passionate about his subject, and he owned the now much-missed Tallmadge Cheese Market in Montclair, New Jersey (the subject of a "Hot from the Kettle" YouTube video) before relocating to Atlanta with his wife several years ago.

By this point in the evening no one was feeling any pain . . .

Although the invitation for the cocktail party said it was from six to eight p.m., there was enough fuel, food, and fun being had by all (beautifully and deliciously supplied by the very solicitous staff at the Four Seasons' Park 75 Lounge) to keep Reggie's Bloggers & Bankers Party going well beyond eight pm, with the last guests not departing until after ten—despite our pleas for them to please, please stay for "just one more" before heading out into the night.

While I'm not exactly sure, I think Boy and I may have consoled ourselves with one last drink at the bar before heading upstairs, but I admit that by that point in the evening it all gets a wee bit blurry. . .

Next:  Rain, the Swan House, more rain, the High Museum, even more rain, a return visit to Sid Mashburn, pouring rain, and dinner at the Iberian Pig

All photographs, unless noted, by Reggie Darling 

A Reggie Roadtrip: Baltimore and Washington, Part II

Well, Dear Reader, it is now time for me to share with you the second installment in my series on Reggie's roadtrip this summer to Baltimore and Washington, D.C.  Herewith, I do so.

After reluctantly checking out of the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Baltimore we loaded up the family buggy with our luggage and dear Pompey, and hit the road for our next stop: the Nation's Capitol.

As readers of this blog may well remember, I grew up in Washington, D.C., and so—coincidentally—did Boy.  Thus we both looked forward to our trip to that fair city as a pleasant meander down memory lane.

The sign for the Baltimore-Washington Parkway
Image courtesy of AARoads

One of the joys (and sometimes the misery) of a driving roadtrip is the time one spends in one's car driving to one's destinations.  Fortunately we experienced the happier side of that equation on our journey to Washington via the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, a lovely tree-lined roadway that opened in 1954 and today blessedly retains much of its period, bucolic appeal.  The parkway is managed by the National Park Service, and is a much-preferred route between the two cities to the mind-numbingly pedestrian, congested, and ever-under-construction I-95 highway alternative.

The Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Image courtesy of cpexecutive.com

Upon our arrival in Washington, D.C., we checked into the city's swell Four Seasons Hotel.  Located in the heart of Georgetown on M Street along the B&O Canal, the Four Seasons is our preferred hostelry when visiting the Nation's Capitol for the reasons I have enumerated elsewhere when discussing the merits of this luxurious hotel chain.

The bar at the Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Image courtesy of same

One of our reasons for visiting Washington was to meet up with our esteemed fellow-blogger Maxminimus.  This was a reunion of sorts, as we had spent a most pleasant evening in his company in Manhattan but a year earlier, and we looked forward to spending another evening in his amusing and thought-provoking company during our visit to Washington, D.C.

Mr. Maxminimus Himself, taken in Mecca
(aka the Belgian Shoe Store in Manhattan)
Image courtesy of Maxminimus

We met up with the fellow-Belgians appreciating Maxminimus for pre-dinner cocktails at the bar at the Four Seasons, but decided to bypass the hotel's extremely-expensive, thronged-to-the-gills Bourbon Steak restaurant that evening, as the prospect of spending $54 for a New York strip steak (and that's a-la-carte—sides would have been extra) seemed a bit, uh, pricey for the three of us.  Instead, based on Maxie's considered and excellent advice, we stepped across M Street to dine in one of Georgetown's most-venerated restaurant landmarks, La Chaumière, where we had a delightfully yummy, boozy dinner that Maxminimus very generously hosted us to.  Thank you, sir!

The cozy main dining room at La Chaumière Restaurant
Washington, D.C.
Image courtesy of same

La Chaumière is the type of French restaurant my parents went to in the 1960s when out for a "romantic" (i.e., children-free) night together.  It is a classic, old-school French bistro known for homey, traditional cooking of the escargot/frogs legs/coq-au-vin school favored by the "Bon appétit!" generation.  Channeling that era during our lively and most-amusing dinner conversation, Maxminimus encouraged us to visit the installation of Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian's recently-renamed Museum of American History (which I shall always remember as the Museum of History and Technology, which is what it was known as when I was a boy).  Maxie informed us that Mrs. Childs' kitchen was a "must visit" site, and a place that we would cherish the memory of having made a pilgrimage to for many years to come (and would kick ourselves for bypassing if we hadn't).

But before we were able to follow through on Maxie's advice and visit the Museum of American History we had a number of other places to visit and people to see first.  Stop number one for this writer was the extremely comfortable bed at the Four Seasons Hotel where I spent the rest of the evening sleeping off my most-delicious and well-lubricated dinner at La Chaumière.

The next morning, moving a bit slowly I must admit (do I notice a theme here?), we spent several sweet hours visiting old and dear friends of my long-departed parents.  We shared many happy memories with them of when the two couples cemented their friendships in the 1950s and 1960s, and we caught up on what had happened to many of the cast of characters in our respective families in the intervening years.  It is a visit, Dear Reader, that I will treasure for the rest of my days.

The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., ca. 1941
Image courtesy of same

Afterwards, Boy and I made a bee-line to the National Gallery of Art, where we spent the rest of the day revelling in the museum's supremely handsome West Wing and admiring its astonishing collection of art.  The National Gallery of Art (along with much of its contents) was a gift to the Nation by the immensely philanthropic Mellon family, and is one of the world's most astounding examples of human generosity, ever.

A view of the National Gallery of Art's breathtakingly beautiful rotunda
Image courtesy of interours.com

The West Wing of the National Gallery of Art was designed by John Russell Pope (1874-1937), who also designed the nearby Jefferson Memorial and the National Archive, and also the Baltimore Museum of Art about which I wrote in the first installment in this series.  The museum's construction was paid for in its entirety by Andrew Mellon (1855-1937), who also donated the nucleus of the museum's art collection.  It opened its doors to the public in 1941.  The National Gallery was further and generously expanded less than forty years later by Paul Mellon (1907-1999), Andrew Mellon's son, who single-handedly paid for the construction of the museum's modernist East Wing, designed by I.M. Pei (b. 1917).

One of the superbly-proportioned halls at the National Gallery of Art
Image courtesy of APS

Unlike many of the world's greatest art museums, where the original architecture has been compromised over the years by multiple expansions and renovations, the National Gallery's West Wing remains true to the design of its brilliant architect.  In my view, it is one of the greatest monuments of modern classical architecture in the world.  Its modernist East Wing, while not as successful a design as the West Wing in my opinion, is nonetheless brilliant in its architectural bravura.

One of the handsome, art-filled galleries at the National Gallery of Art
Image courtesy of Virtual Tourist

Neither of the two buildings—unlike so many art galleries and museums today—attempt to compete with the art that hangs upon their walls.  Rather they complement it with architectural integrity and context.  All is understatement, all is refinement, all is appropriate.

The cover of the catalog for the Bellows exhibition
at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Image courtesy of same

One of our primary reasons for visiting the National Gallery was to take in the landmark exhibition of the works of George Bellows (1882-1925), on display through October 8th.  An artist of stupendous talent and prodigious output in his all-too-short life, Bellows is best known for his paintings of boxers in the ring and the teeming street life of New York City in the first decades of the twentieth century.  The show at the National Gallery, one of the most extensive I've seen for a single artist in many years, brings together scores of paintings from every sphere of Bellows' enormous and talented output, including landscapes, people of fashion at play, and gritty paintings of the horrors of WWI.

It is a breath-taking, jaw-dropping show, Dear Reader, and I highly recommend that you make every effort to see it before it closes in October.

After the intellectual and visual intensity of the Bellows show, we enjoyed a gentler change of pace by revisiting a number of our favorite paintings in the National Gallery's collection, including Gilbert Stuart's masterpiece, The Skater:

The Skater (Portrait of William Grant)
Gilbert Stuart, 1782
Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Another stop was to admire John Singleton Copley's wonderfully dramatic Watson and the Shark:

Watson and the Shark
John Singleton Copley, 1778
Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Of course we had to visit Edward Savage's The Washington Family, as we not only collect Washingtonia but we have an engraving done after this very painting hanging at Darlington House.  I'm always surprised that Savage's painting of the Washingtons is life-sized.  It is enormous!

The Washington Family
Edward Savage, 1789-1796
Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

One of the (many) treasures of the National Gallery's collection is the Voyage of Life four-part series painted by Thomas Cole.  Immensely popular when painted in the late 1830s/early 1840s, over half a million visitors paid to see the series when it toured the country shortly after it was completed.

The Voyage of Life—Youth
Thomas Cole, 1842
Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Not all of my favorite paintings at the National Gallery were painted in the eighteenth century, Dear Reader.  One of the jewels of the collection is Right and Left, by Winslow Homer, and was one of the last paintings the artist painted, in 1909:

Right and Left
Winslow Homer, 1909
Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

I love this painting of the two ducks careening over the roiling ocean below.  Homer brilliantly captured their movement with the accuracy of a high speed camera, frozen in mid-air.

Afterwards we headed back to the Four Seasons to give Pompey a much-needed walk and to plot where to have dinner on our final night in Washington.  By this point in our trip we were satiated with expensive hotel and restaurant dinners, and craved an uncomplicated, straightforward meal.  The concierge at the Four Seasons recommended we dine at a recently-opened Mexican restaurant, El Centro DF, located in the city's trendy 14th Street/Logan Circle neighborhood.

El Centro DF Restaurant on 14th Street in Washington, D.C.
Image courtesy of same

"What?" I wondered, "How on Earth can that neighborhood now be trendy?"  For I recalled that area as being nothing but burned out rubble, destroyed during the race riots that gripped the city in 1968 after Martin Luther King's assassination.  14th Street was the epicenter of the rioting, and over 1,200 buildings in the area were burned during the mayhem.

14th Street laid to waste after the 1968 riots
Image courtesy of ReadysetDC

Well, much has changed since then and today 14th Street is no longer the bombed out, desolated wasteland I remembered it as being for many years subsequent to the riots.  No, today it is a thriving neighborhood of restaurants, condos, and stores catering to hipsters and twenty-somethings.  My how times have changed . . . and for the better!

14th Street as it appears today
Image courtesy of RealtyTrac.com

And much of the same thing can be said for Washington, D.C. today, Dear Reader, since I last lived there back when I was a college student.  The entire city appears to be a cleaner and much-better-cared-for place today than it was when I remember it.  It has always certainly been a lovely city, mind you, but it is now an even more beautiful one and a truly fitting location for what our Nation's Capitol really should be: a City Beautiful of broad boulevards, stately monuments, magestic federal buildings, leafy parks, and handsome neighborhoods.

Next: In the third and final installment of this series Reggie and Boy visit the Museum of American History and take their leave of the Nation's Capitol.

A Reggie Roadtrip: Baltimore and Washington

Part I: Baltimore

Several weeks ago, Boy and I (along with our most beloved Pompey) took a road trip to visit friends and family in Baltimore and Washington.  We had a delightful time.

Before leaving on our trip I was asked by a neighbor here in the Hudson River Valley, "Why would you want to go there?"  To which I responded (rather snappishly, I must admit), "Because the last time I checked there's rather a lot to see and do in Baltimore and Washington, that's why!"

And there was, and we did, Dear Reader, in the all-too-short time we had in these two illustrious American cities.

Our first stop in Baltimore was the new Four Seasons Hotel, where we checked in for a three-night stay.  Located in the trendy Harbor East area of the city on the water's edge, with stunning views of Baltimore's inner harbor, the hotel is a gleaming glass tower, lavishly appointed with every imaginable luxury.

A rendering of the Baltimore Four Seasons Hotel
Image courtesy of same

Our supremely comfortable room had splendid views of the inner harbor.

A view from our room, looking over
a marina and Baltimore's inner harbor
Photograph by Reggie Darling

One of the reasons that we like to stay in Four Seasons Hotels, Dear Reader, is that—other than that they are lovely, beautifully appointed, and have superb service—they welcome one's furry, four-legged friends, too—so long as one's such companions weigh under twenty pounds.  That means we can take our darling pug Pompey, who weighs just shy of fifteen pounds, with us on such trips.  Not only do the Four Seasons' welcome man's best friend, but they thoughtfully equip rooms of guests accompanied by such faithful companions with a dog bed and bowls, and also toys and treats!

Pompey, happy as a clam—I mean pug—in our room at the Four Seasons
Photograph by Reggie Darling

We had dinner the night we arrived in the hotel's very handsome restaurant, Wit and Wisdom, where I would most definitely recommend ordering the restaurant's signature lobster pot pie entrée.  It was divine.

The stylish Wit and Wisdom restaurant at the Baltimore Four Seasons Hotel
Image courtesy of same

Oh, and do not fail to request the restaurant's blue-cheese-stuffed olives when ordering Reggie's preferred cocktail—an ice-cold Beefeater Gin martini—as the olives are delicious enough to make this grown man cry with joy.  And I don't even like cheese stuffed olives!

The next morning we headed straight to the Baltimore Museum of Art, where we spent the better part of the day reveling in the BMA's marvelous collections.

The stately Baltimore Museum of Art
Photograph by Reggie Darling

Although the BMA is justifiably famous for its breathtaking Cone Collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art, it is also very strong in its holdings of American decorative arts.  It is these that drew us to the BMA, like bees to honey, given our interest in American antiques.

One of the BMA's rooms displaying but a fraction of its collection
of American furniture and decorative arts
Photograph by Reggie Darling

As readers of this blog well know, Reggie has a "thing" for early-nineteenth-century French gilt bronze clocks depicting George Washington.  I lusted after this one, attributed to Jean-Baptiste Dubuc (1743-1819),  in the museum's collection:

"Yes, please, I'll take it!"
Photograph by Reggie Darling

One of the reasons we visited the BMA was to photograph an American classical secretary bookcase, circa 1825-1835, in the museum's collection that is attributed to the cabinetmakers John Meads (1777-1859) and William Alvord (1766-1853).

The Vanderpoel secretary bookcase in the BMA's collection
Photograph by Reggie Darling

Made in Albany, New York, the BMA's secretary bookcase is nearly identical to one in our own collection at Darlington House, also attributed to Meads and Alvord.  We bought ours from the dealers Charles and Rebekah Clarke ten or so years ago and were inspired to do so by our familiarity with the one in the BMA's collection, as shown in the preceding photograph.  We had come to know the desk from studying it in Wendy Cooper's Classical Taste in America, a book that has been a meaningful influence on our collecting.  Other examples of furniture made by Meads and Alvord can be found in the collections of Hyde Hall, in Cooperstown, NY, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, among other institutions.

The descriptive label for the secretary bookcase
Photograph by Reggie Darling

The secretary bookcase in the BMA's collection was commissioned by James Vanderpoel (1787-1843), a prominent lawyer and statesman who lived in Kinderhook, New York, in the house shown in the following photograph.  The desk remained in the house until only twenty-five years ago.  The Vanderpoel house has for many years belonged to the Columbia County Historical Society, which for some unfathomable reason de-accessioned the secretary bookcase from its collection in the late nineteen-eighties, when it was acquired by the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The James Vanderpoel House, circa 1816-1820
Kinderhook, New York
Image courtesy of Dr. Olver Bronson House Daybook

The Vanderpoel House is attributed to the architect/builder Barnabas Waterman (1776-1839) and is a lovely and beautifully maintained Federal house that is open to the public.  I encourage a visit to see the house, Dear Reader, should you ever find yourself in Kinderhook, New York.  Although not proved definitively, we believe that our own nearby Darlington House was also designed and built by Waterman, as it shares many of the Vanderpoel house's architectural details and stylistic flourishes, albeit on a slightly reduced scale.

The fashionably attired diners at the BMA's Gertrude's Restaurant
Photograph by Reggie Darling

We took a break from touring the BMA's collections by stopping for a tasty and most reasonably priced luncheon in the museum's Gertrude's Restaurant.  We assumed that the restaurant was named after Gertrude Stein, a native Baltimorean who gave a number of paintings in the museum's collection.  However, we learned that the restaurant was named after the restaurant's chef's grandmother Gertrude.

The Oval Room from Willow Brook House
in the BMA's collection
Photograph by Reggie Darling

Afterwards we spent a breathtaking half-hour examining one of the museum's marvelous period-room installations, the Oval Room from Willow Brook House, a long-since-torn-down Palladian-style villa built in Baltimore in 1799 by Thorowgood Smith, a wealthy merchant-shipper who was the city's second mayor, from 1804 to 1808.

These photographs do little justice to the Oval Room's loveliness.  It is beautifully scaled, with tall ceilings and handsome proportions.  The plasterwork, gorgeously picked out with paint, is original.

One of two painted "fancy" settees in the Oval Room
made in Baltimore by the Finlay Brothers, circa 1800-1810
Photograph by Reggie Darling

Within the Oval Room one finds one of the BMA's greatest treasures: an intact, thirteen-piece set of painted Baltimore furniture made in the first decade of the nineteenth century by the brothers and business partners John Finlay (1771-1851) and Hugh Finlay (1781-1831).  The Finlay Brothers advertised themselves as "fancy furniture manufacturers" and specialized in producing the painted furniture that Baltimore is justifiably famous for amongst those of us who appreciate antique American furniture of the highest quality.  What makes the set in the museum's collection particularly noteworthy is that the pieces are decorated with painted images of seventeen of Baltimore's most noteworthy Federal-era houses, only two of which survive today.  The images of the houses on the chairs are attributed to Francis Guy (1760-1820), an English-born landscape artist working in Baltimore at the time.

A detail of one of the Finlay settees, showing Homewood House
Photograph by Reggie Darling

One of the (two) settees in the set includes a rendition of the still-standing Homewood House, one of the true monuments of Baltimore and one of Reggie's favorite destinations in the city.  The house, which is owned by Johns Hopkins University and is open to the public as a house museum, is beautifully restored and furnished and contains one of Reggie's favorite rooms in America, its reception hall, which I posted about previously in my series Reggie's Rooms.

Homewood House, with its portico under restoration
Photograph by Reggie Darling

After visiting the BMA, we stopped by Homewood House to take in the structure's current restoration program, as seen in the preceding photograph.  It is so pleasing that Johns Hopkins takes such good care of Homewood House.

The banner image from Meg Fairfax Fielding's blog, Pigtown Design
Image courtesy of same

One of our primary reasons for visiting Baltimore was to meet Meg Fairfax Fielding, of the marvelous blog Pigtown Design.  If you aren't already familiar with Ms. Fielding's blog, Dear Reader, I highly encourage you to visit it often (she posts every other day or so), as I know you will find it as amusing, interesting, and eclectic as I find it and its charming author.  We were thrilled when Meg suggested throwing a cocktail party in our honor during our visit, followed by dinner afterwards with a few of her closest friends at a new favorite restaurant of hers in the city, the oh-so-of-the-moment Food Market, opened only one or two weeks previously.

The facade of Food Market
Image courtesy of same

We had an absolutely delightful time meeting Meg and her friends, and we found her to be charming, funny, and an all-around good egg (one of Reggie's highest accolades).  Meg's friends clearly (and rightly) adore her, and they were as charming and amusing as our hostess.  Such fun!

The interior of Food Market during the day.
It was a lot busier at night when we had dinner there!
Image courtesy of Meg Fairfax Fielding of Pigtown Design

The Food Market was positively popping when we arrived after cocktails and was filled with hipsters and locals out for a festive evening.  The joint was jumping!  We were immediately shown to our table (it is obvious that Ms. Fielding has sway in this town), and we had a delicious, zesty dinner fueled with libations and hilarious conversation.  What an evening we had!

An aerial view of the glorious Orioles Park at Camden Yards
Image courtesy of AP Photo/Files

I must admit that we were moving slowly the next morning, what with all the excitement and imbibulation of the night before.  Fortunately, the day I planned for us was fairly low-impact and largely devoted to easygoing entertainment and mindless relaxing.  When plotting out our trip to Baltimore, I made sure we could take in an Orioles ballgame at the city's splendid Camden Yards baseball park.  I had wanted to see a game at the marvelously retro ballpark ever since it was built twenty years ago, and I made sure my wish came true during our visit.  We attended a day game with Boy's sister Kitty and her husband, Bart, where we sat in killer seats close to the field, just to the left of home plate.  We all had a lovely time.  The Orioles hosted the Washington Nationals that day, which was great fun, as both Boy and I grew up in Washington, home to the old Senators.  The day's game was referred to as the "Beltway Series."  The game was most enjoyable, and the home team was enthusiastically supported by its adoring fans.  The whole experience brought home just why it is that baseball is—at least in some circles these days—still considered to be the Great American Pastime.

The splendid view of the field from our seats during the game
Photograph by Boy Fenwick

After the game we bid Kitty and Bart adieu, and then made a beeline back to the Four Seasons, where Boy and I spent the rest of the afternoon lolling about the hotel's sybaritic outdoor infinity pool.  I'm not usually a fan of infinity pools, Dear Reader, but this one was gorgeous.

The pool at the Baltimore Four Seasons Hotel
Image courtesy of courier-journal.com

The pool is perfectly situated to take full advantage of the hotel's expansive views over the harbor.  Lounging by it I felt more as if we were staying at an island resort than at an urban hotel.

A glorious summer's afternoon spent by the Four Seasons' pool
Image courtesy of foursquare.com

It was difficult to tear ourselves away from the chaise longues at the pool, but we did so knowing that a delicious seed-to-plate dinner awaited us at the nearby Waterfront Kitchen restaurant, where we had a delightful, simply prepared meal.  I highly recommend it.

The interior of Waterfront Kitchen, with a view of Baltimore Harbor
Image courtesy of the Baltimore Sun

Boy and Pompey and I made an early night of it and were in bed with the lights out by 10 p.m. so that we would be well-rested for the next stop on our journey, Washington, DC, which is the subject of the next post in this series . . .